Though the symptoms of alopecia areata typically do not cause physical pain, many people with the condition say that it causes emotional, or psychological, pain. This type of pain is as serious (and can feel the same) as physical pain and can lead to feelings of sadness, depression and anxiety.
Alopecia areata is not medically disabling; persons with alopecia areata are usually in excellent health. But emotionally, this disease can be challenging, especially for those with extensive hair loss.
Alopecia is a form of disfigurement that can affect a person's sense of self and identity. No randomised control trials have explored the effectiveness of psychological treatment for alopecia. Alopecia can be caused by traumatic events.
Causes of Alopecia Areata
In alopecia areata, the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing inflammation. Researchers do not fully understand what causes the immune attack on hair follicles, but they believe that both genetic and environmental (non-genetic) factors play a role.
Hair loss (alopecia) can affect just your scalp or your entire body, and it can be temporary or permanent. It can be the result of heredity, hormonal changes, medical conditions or a normal part of aging. Anyone can lose hair on their head, but it's more common in men.
Alopecia Areata.
Some people may experience hair loss in other parts of the body. Although the hair will grow back, continued anxiety and stress can cause the hair loss to continue leading to different patches of hair and baldness.
Traumatic alopecia results from the forceful extraction of hair or the breaking of hair shafts by friction, pressure, traction, or other physical trauma. The usual causes are cosmetic practices and trichotillomania.
Androgenic alopecia (AGA) is associated with significant cardiovascular risk factors that also have a negative impact on brain aging.
A 20 percent rating is warranted if the disorder affects more than 40 percent of the scalp. Under Diagnostic Code 7831, for alopecia areata, a noncompensable rating is assigned with loss of hair limited to the scalp and face. A 10 percent rating is warranted with loss of all body hair.
Disease at a Glance
An extremely rare genetic syndromic intellectual disability described in less than 20 families to date and characterized by total or partial alopecia associated with intellectual deficit.
Alopecia areata is more common among African Americans but less common among Asians, compared with whites, according to a new study involving registry data for more than 11,000 individuals.
A variety of factors are thought to cause alopecia areata (al-o-PEE-she-uh ar-e-A-tuh), possibly including severe stress. With alopecia areata, the body's immune system attacks the hair follicles — causing hair loss.
Patients with Alopecia areata (AA) have a significantly higher risk of developing dementia, according to a recent study published in the clinical journal of psychiatry. Alopecia areata (AA) is associated with multiple comorbidities and shares a similar inflammatory signature with dementia.
Because hair loss and regrowth from alopecia areata is unpredictable and sometimes cyclical (comes back again and again), having the condition can be frustrating and emotionally challenging for many people.
In most people, new hair eventually grows back in the affected areas, although this process can take months. Approximately 50 percent of people with mild alopecia areata recover within a year; however, most people will experience more than one episode during their lifetime.
The hair loss is temporary, and should return to its pre-effluvium density, although this process is generally slow. It can take months (but generally less than 6) before the shedding stops, and then months to years for lost hair to grow back at the sluggish rate of ~½ inch per month.
Prolonged periods of stress can result in telogen effluvium. Hair loss typically occurs about 3 months after the stressful event.
Alopecia areata is sometimes triggered by viral infections such as influenza that causes excess production of interferons (IFN). IFN- γ is one of the key factors that lead to the collapse of immune privilege.
Severe stress is one of several potential causes of alopecia areata, a state in which your body's immune system attacks hair follicles, inducing loss of hair. Hormonal imbalances, often linked with depression, are another potential source of thinning hair and hair loss.
Alopecia areata can occur at any age but about half of cases come on in childhood and 80% of cases come on before the age of 40 years. Men and women are equally affected. The condition tends to be milder if it comes on at an older age.
Alopecia areata isn't usually a serious medical condition, but it can cause a lot of anxiety and sadness. Support groups are out there to help you deal with the psychological effects of the condition. If you lose all your hair, it could grow back.
Most people know alopecia to be a form of hair loss. However, what they don't always know is that there are three main types of the condition – alopecia areata, alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis.
It may be progressive, meaning it gets worse over time, or it may not. For some people, small bare patches join together and turn into large patches. You're more likely to have extensive alopecia areata if: You have eczema.